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Was Fish Jesusí Favorite Food?

Not many people need an explanation as to why Christians use crosses as a
symbol. But have you ever considered the fish symbol? Why do so many Christians
display the fish as a sign of their faith? Was fish Jesusí favorite food? As you
have guessed, there is a reason for the fish as an indication of followers of
Jesus. It developed at a time of fear, torture, and secrecy and it was probably
used more frequently than the cross. Why?

First we have to revisit the Christians of the late first century and the
second century. The first large persecution of Christians by the Romans did not
occur until the late first century. Nero had persecuted Christians in AD 64, but
that was mainly in Rome and was connected to a fire which destroyed part of
Rome. It wasnít until the end of Domitianís reign (emperor from 81-96) that
Christians everywhere experienced persecution. We can see this illustrated in
the New Testament in the book of Revelation. At the beginning of that book, John
tells us that he is on the island of Patmos. Why was he there? Because Domitian
had placed him there under house arrest of sorts. (Why didnít Domitian just kill
John? Because if you kill a leader of a movement you make him/her into a
martyr.)

The method of execution that the Romans frequently (but not always) used was
a cross. But consider this: why did the Romans chose the more costly and
time-consuming practice of crucifixion when there were cheaper and quicker ways
of death? To make a statement. Put a few people up on crosses around a city, and
the message of control is plainly understood. So everyone feared crosses. See
why the cross wasnít used as a symbol of Christianity early on? Wearing or
having a cross as decoration to people of that time period would not have meant
the same thing it means today; instead of a symbol for Christís sacrifice, it
would have been, well, I donít know what people would have thought of someone
walking around with a cross around their neck in those days.

So you can see why the cross did not catch on as a symbol of the first
Christians. But that doesnít make it easier to understand they chose a fish.
Looking at the Bible, we see that Jesus made two references to fish. First, he
told some of his disciples that he would make them "fishers of men." Second, he
fed 5000 people with fishes and loaves of bread. But those werenít the reason.
Now we get back to the persecution and secrecy aspect.

During a time of persecution, you couldnít just go around telling everyone
you were a Christian because you might be killed. So they developed a code (so
the story goes). But why a fish? Because of what the letters stand for. "Fish"
in Greek is "ichthus." Using these letters as the first letters of words,
you came up with:

iasous

christus

theos

uio

sotar

which means, in English,

Jesus

Christ

Godís

Son

Savior

It was a code word used by Christians in conversation as well
as in homes and hiding places. After all, if the Romans came in your house and
saw fishes used as decoration, they would not think you were a Christian, just
that you liked fish.

I have also read that if you wanted to know if someone else was a Christian,
you would make a mark in the sand like half of the fish. If the other person
made the other mark, then you both knew the other was a Christian.

And that is why the fish, also called the ichthus, is used to represent the
Christian faith, it was originally a code.